Choker hook



June 17 1924.

' ,2 0 H; w. BUZZARD CHQKER HOOK Filed Aug. 14, 1923 If V/ INVENTOR .Bazzarvi;

A TTOR/VE VS Patented June 17, 1924.

ITED STATES HENRY WILLIAM BUZZARD, or BELLINGHAMQWASHINGTON.

oHoKER HOOK.

Application filed August 14, 1923. Serial No. 657,393.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. BUZZARD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bellingham, in the county of /Vhatcom and State of l/Vashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Choker Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention .relates generally to hooks, more particularly to hooksof the type used in lumbering operations and known in the trade as choker hooks, and it consists in the combinations, construction and arrangements herein described andoclaimed.

An object of my'invention is to provide an improvement overthe hook disclosed in 7 Patent #1,183,059 issued May 6, 1916, to

John O. Balch, in which a closure for'the bill of the hook was controlled by a latching pin slidably disposed in a pocket inthe body of the hook, being .urged outwardly by a spring interposed between the end of the latch pin and the bottom of the pocket, and being guided in its movement and retained in the pocket by a screw fast in the. body of the hook and received in a slot in the latching pin. It hasbeen found in actual practice, that the closure controlling arrangement disclosed in the aforesaid patent is not satisfactory nor effective for the purpose intended principally because the latching pin becomes rusted and the pocket clogged with dirt so that the pin will not spring back into extended or shot out position after it has been pressed into the pocket to permit the moving of the closure to open position. Moreover, the guide screw of the device of the aforesaid patent becomes rusted in service so that it cannot be removed with a screw driver, thereby necessitating the removal of the hooks to a repair shopin order that they may be again placed in 0011- dition for proper use. Obviously, this condition is very unsatisfactory and occasions undue delay and expense as the hooks are ordinarily used at points remote from repair shops.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a hook of the character described inwhich a novel latch mechanism for controlling the bill closing member is comprised, whereby the latching arrangement may be disassembled in the field with the use of tools ordinarily available to permit of the repair thereof or the replace ment of any worn or broken part.

Other objects and advantages will be ap-- parent from the following description, and the novel features of the invention will be,

particularly outlined in the, appended claims. I

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming, a part of this application in Which- Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing the improved hookoperativelyapplied, and Figure 2 is a vertical section through the hook, illustrating to advantage the rack teeth comprised therein.

. As in the hook disclosed in the aforesaidpatent, a practical embodiment of my invention comprises a body 1 formed to provide a hill 2 at one end andhaving an eye 3 at its other end. A closure member 4: is pivotally attached at 5 tothe body 1 in such manner that the flangeo formed integrally with the closure member 4 along one edge of the latter is disposed between the bill 2 and the body proper, when the closure is in the position illustrated in the drawing with respect to the bill 2;

The upper edge or end of'. the bill 2 and the the flange 6 are cooperatively curved to permit of the rotation of the closure l about the axis of the pivot 5 while the flange 6 is in contact with the end ofthe bill 2.

The parts described so far are ordinary in the bore. The enlarged portion 9 of the bore opens through the back side of the body 1 and is threaded at 11 for an appreciable distance from its outer end for engagement with a threaded plug 12. a

A latching pin 13 is adapted to slide in the bore 'Z and has a head or flange 14 at one end adapted to slide in the diametricallyenlarged portion 9 of the bore. The latching pin 13 is of suflicient length to project beyond the front side of the body 1 when the head 14- abuts the shoulder 10, whereby the closure 4 may bepositioned so that the prof jecting portion of the latch pin will extend into the notch 8 andthus lock the closure 4 in osition to close the opening between the bil 2- and the body 1,,as illustrated in the drawing. The plug 12 is provided with an axial socket 15 in its inner end in which is seated an expansion spring 16 having one end arranged to react against *the head 14;

and to thus urge the locking pin 13 to its extended position. The plug 12 is of such length as to terminate at a suflicient distance from the shoulder 10 to permit of'thelatching pin 13 being pressed into retracted po sition against the action of the springlG so that the end of the pin will be substantially flush with the front side of the body 1, whereupon the closure 4 may be rotated from the position in which illustrated in the drawing to permit of a link 17 being moved between the bill2 and thebody l'into engagement with the hook. iV'ith this .arrangement described, the outer end of the plug "12 is substantially flush with the back side of the'body land a screw driver slot 18 is provided in the outer end of the plug to permit of the latter being conveniently removed or applied at will.

From. the foregoing description of thevarious parts of the device, the operation thereof will be'readily apparent. In service, the link19 of afchain will be passed through the eye 3 to attach the bodyl to the chain.

' The link '17 may then be placed in engagement with the hook in the manner described when the closure 4 has been rotated from the position in which illustrated until the flange 6 is no longer interposed between the bill 2 and the body 1. It will be understood that the latching pin v13 musti'irst be pressed from the position in which illustrated into retracted position to permit of the rotation of the closure member 41. hen the latter has been rotated to open position, thelatch ing pin 13 will be urged outwardly by the spring '16 against the under side of the 010-- sure i, thereby holding the latter in open position until the weight 1 7 has been placed in engagement with'the hook. In the event that rust should form on the pin 13 or on the spring 16 so that these parts do not function properly, it is only necessary to remove the plug 12 to permit of inspection of the spring 16 and the pin 13 as well as of the repair or replacement of either or both of these parts. Theplug 12 is made of brass or like non-corrosive material and in conse- V quence may be removed at will. It will thus be manifest that thelatching arrangement comprised in the improved hooks embodying my invention is thoroughly effective for the purposes intended, and obviates the necessity of removing the hooks to a repair shop by avoiding the objectionable features of; the hooks provided priorto my invention.

Obviously my invention is susceptible oi illustratedand described herein and I therefore consider as my own all modifications and adaptations. 0f the form -of the device shown which properly fall within the scope act the invention as disclosed in the fore going and as outlined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is V 1. A "hook comprising a body provided with a bill and a closure movably supported on the bo'dy,fsaid b'odyhavinga bore opening throughthe side thereof adjacent to the closure and a counter-bore opening through the opposite side of the body, a locking pin slidably disposed in said bore and having an enlarged portion disposed in said counterbore, said pin being of sufiicient "length to project beyond the end of the bore into engagement with the closure when in an extended position, and means for preventing the displacement of said pin from said bore.

2. :In .a hook, a body having a bore extending transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof and opening through the front side thereof, said bore being merged into a counter bore opening through theback side of the body, and a spring pressed locking pin slidable in thebore and having a hea portion disposed within the counter-bore, for the purpose described.

3. In a hook, a 'body having a bore extending transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof and opening through'the front side thereof, said bore being merged into a counter bore opening through the back side of. the body, a latching pin slidable in thebore and having ahead portion s'lidabl'y received in the counter-bore, said in "being of a. length to project beyond the Front side of the body when in an extended position, and means actuated to urgethe latching pin toward its extended position.

4. In a hook, a body portion having a bore extendin transversely of the longitudinal axis t ereof and opening through the front side thereof, said bore being merged intona counter-bore opening through the back side of the body, a latching pin axis thereof and opening through the side of the body contiguous to the closure, said bore being merged into a counterbore opening through the opposite side of the body, a latching pin slidably disposed in the bore and having a head portion received within the counter-bore, said latching pin being of a length to project when in an extended position beyond the end of the bore into engagement with the closure, a plug thread edly engaging the counter-bore, and an expansion spring interposed between the plug and the head of the latching pin and reacting against the latter to yieldingly resist movement thereof from an extended position.

6. In a hook provided with a movable closure member, a body supporting the closure member and provided with a bore ex tending transversely of the longitudinal axis thereof and opening through the side of the body contiguous to the closure, said bore being merged into a counterbore opening through the opposite side of the body, a latching pin slidably disposed in the bore and having a head portion received within the counter-bore, said latching pin being of a length to project when in an extended position beyond the end of the bore into engagement with the closure, a plug made of a non-corrosive material and threadedly engaging the counterbore, said plug havin a socket formed in the inner end thereo and an expansion spring seated within the socket and having one end thereof reacting against the head of the latching pin to continuously urge the latter toward an extended position.

HENRY WILLIAM BUZZARD. 

